CHAPTER 11~ Troubled
DRACO'S POV~
"WHAT?!" she yelled in disbelief. "He can't! The letter! Pansy! How? Draco how?"
"Last night when we were in the Astronomy Tower, he was spying on us. I think he knew that something wasn't quite right and he came to check it out. He was up there the whole time, and he followed me back to the Slytherin common room." I stopped and took a deep breath, then continued, "He said that I'm not worthy to be a Malfoy, but he still has use for me and-" I didn't want to go on. I felt that I couldn't, but I knew I had to.
She must have sensed that I was battling with myself and she whispered, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No! I have to. Just give me a second." I took a few deep breaths and said softly, "He's going to-he's gunna-um-Hermione, he won't leave us alone until you're buried six feet under." I looked at her again. "He wants to use me to get to you, but I won't let him touch you. I promise. Just be sure to stay where there are a lot of people, and he won't come near you. You'll need to be escorted to your class-"
"Draco stop!" she interrupted me. "Let's go to Dumbledore. He'll tell us what we should do. We have to think rationally in this situation. I obviously can't be escorted to every single place I go, and you can't be around me 24/7 because of what people will say. Let's just go see Dumbledore."
"Before we go, I just want to let you know that we can make our relationship public now. My father knows, so why bother lying to everyone else?" She nodded her head and we headed towards the Headmaster's quarters.
When we arrived at our destination, I recited the password and we made our way up the staircase. I was about to open the door when he said, "Mr. Malfoy, Ms Granger, you may come in." We did as we were instructed and walked in. "Please sit," he suggested while pointing to two chairs. "Now, what can I do for you at this un-godly hour?"
"Professor, Hermione and I have been seeing each other in secret since the day before term started. As you probably already know, we both have family problems and we ended up at the Leaky Cauldron over break," I explained.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I do know of this. Please continue."
"Well, my father saw us talking together one morning at the Leaky Cauldron and said that if he found out that we were together he would disown me and kill her. I asked her to meet me in the Astronomy Tower last night because I needed to apologize for something I shouldn't have said, but did anyway. When we were there, I received an owl from my father that basically stated that he eventually wanted me to marry Pansy Parkinson. When we left the tower, I dropped Hermione off at the Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Slytherin dorms. My father was sitting on one of the couches when I arrived, and he said that I have dishonored the family name and that he is going to use me to get to Hermione so that he could kill her."
"Yes, yes, that is a problem. What do you propose we do?"
"I don't want to leave her alone.ever. I-"
"Draco, I am strong enough to take care of myself," Hermione defended.
"Ms Granger, I know that you are one of the most powerful witches that this school has ever seen, but I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Malfoy on this. I do not want you roaming around the building on your own; it could be potentially dangerous."
"Yes sir," she mumbled looking defeated.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you get another letter from your father, come to me immediately. I want to know what he is planning to do."
"Yes sir," I said.
"You may go now." He dismissed us so he could go back to doing what ever he was doing before we arrived.
Once we were outside, Hermione said, "Draco, why the hell did you suggest that?! I told you, I can take care of myself."
"I know you can; you are one of the strongest people I know, but my father is really sneaky about how he goes about doing his business. I don't want you to get hurt. I am just looking out for your safety. I only want to protect you."
"Okay, fine, but how am I going to get around? There is not one person who is in all of my classes."
"I'll walk with you to all your classes and then go to mine. Sure, we'll probably be late most of the time, but I'm sure our professors will understand."
She nodded. I knew she could take care of herself, but if something happened to her, I didn't know what I would do. She knew I loved her, but she was a very independent person. She didn't need to rely on me. She had survived without me protecting her for the previous sixteen years of her life, and there was no reason why she needed me to survive then. The problem was, I needed her. Without her I'd be miserable, ready to die, and I would have died if we hadn't met up with each other in Diagon Alley.
"Draco?" She managed to break me out of my trance.
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"Everything."
"Well that's not a broad subject," she answered sarcastically.
I smirked at her. "Of course not. Let's go get some breakfast since we're near the Great Hall anyway."
"Alright."
~
HERMIONE'S POV~
The rest of the week went by quickly, and it was soon Friday night. Lucius had not followed up with his previous letter to Draco. Draco and I were once again in the Astronomy Tower; it was about 8:30.
"Draco, you should really get some sleep tonight," I said as he left a trail of kisses down my neck.
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Don't tell me you forgot about your Quidditch game," I answered in mock shock.
"What if I said that I'd rather be here with you than in a dorm with a bunch of dim-witted idiots? It's not even my bedtime yet."
"I know that, but you need your rest."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He stopped kissing me and looked into my eyes.
"I would never try to get rid of you. I just really want you to beat Harry."
"What would your House say if they knew you said that?"
"Well now that everyone knows we're together, I don't think they'd be too surprised. They might be upset but-oh who cares what they say or think? I don't. That whole House can kiss my ass! They're mad at me anyway, for you know, 'sleeping with the enemy.'"
"My House ain't too thrilled with me either. Pansy cried for two days straight after she saw us together."
"How sad!" I said sarcastically. "She must be ready to jump out a window in the Astronomy Tower because she wants what she can't have."
"She might be, but I wouldn't know. She refuses to look at me. I don't mind, though, she's very annoying."
"I noticed that."
Draco went back to kissing my neck. I could feel a fire burning a pit in my stomach. I wanted him so badly, but I had to control my hormonal imbalances so that he would be at 100% for the Quidditch match. "'Mione, we should really start heading back so I'll be able to control myself," he said between kisses.
"Yeah we do. Especially if you wanna win tomorrow." I couldn't help but to run my fingers through his silky smooth hair.
"Mm, but that means I have to leave you and I'm very much enjoying this."
I held his face in my hands and whispered, "Win tomorrow, and I have a special surprise for you."
"And what kind of surprise is this my darling Gryffindor Lioness whom I love so dearly?"
"Well now my charming Slytherin Serpent, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."
"I can still act surprised." He smirked at his futile attempt to make me change my mind.
"So juvenile," I mumbled. "See, but if you lose, you won't get this surprise, and I don't want you to get your hopes up."
"Fine," he gave in. "But I will win tomorrow."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," I warned.
"What?"
"Muggle saying. Don't lose sleep over it."
"Whatever."
~
DRACO'S POV~
I woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed. I took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed to the Great Hall to catch a quick bite to eat before the game. A large majority of the student population was already there, and I could feel the glares that were being thrown at me from the Gryffindor table. I sat down with the Slytherin Quidditch team and went over some basic, last minute strategies before we headed for the locker rooms.
In the locker rooms, I didn't really have much to say to the team. We were pretty calm because of the grueling practice I put them through all week to prepare for this game. I, myself was a bit nervous still about facing the "legendary" Harry Potter. He looked so damn confident at breakfast, and that was pissing me off.
After a few minutes of silence, I muttered, "Come on. Let's go." They followed me out onto the field. The Gryffindors were already at the center waiting patiently for us.
Potter and I shook hands because we were the captains of our teams. I was very tense and I could sense that he was too as we glared at each other. Once we mounted our brooms, Madame Hooch blew the whistle and we were off.
"Ron Weasley from Gryffindor grabs the quaffle first and head toward the Slytherin goal posts," the commentator. He had to specify which Weasley it was because Ginny, or whatever her name was, was also a beater for Gryffindor. After that, I blocked out his voice so I can concentrate on finding the snitch.
The game was very close, and every now and then I would listen to hear the score- 50-40 Gryffindor, then it was 70-60 Slytherin. It was back and forth the entire game.
It was over an hour before I decided to do anything fun or spontaneous, and I only did because I was extremely bored. Potter was at the other end of the field so I decided I'd give a go at the Wronski Feint. I did it well in practice, now it was time to see if it would work in a game situation. I pulled into a steep dive. I took a quick glance behind me and saw Potter racing to catch up with me. I began to estimate the distance I was from the ground-20 feet, 15, 10, 7, 5- I decided it was now time to pull up. Potter went to about three feet before he realized what I was doing and also pulled up.
I quickly climbed to a higher elevation so I could get a clear view of the entire field and search for the snitch. I wanted to end the game so badly. And then I saw it by the Slytherin goal posts. I put on another burst of speed. Once again, Potter was on my tail. The snitch went down to about three feet above the ground. I pulled out of my dive along with Potter and we continued to chase it. Suddenly, it headed back up and so did we. Potter pulled up beside me and I put on an extra burst of speed in attempts to beat him out, and I succeeded; he fell behind. The whole time, I was gaining on the snitch. As I reached out to grab it, but a bludger was sent at my head. I ducked out of the way just as the snitch headed downward again. I dove after it, and Potter was right behind me. I couldn't let him catch it. I reached my arm out to its full extent, and closed my fingers tightly around the little gold ball.
"And Slytherin wins 150-120," called the announcer. He sounded very gloomy, but I didn't care. I had done the inevitable; I had beat Harry Potter.
The Slytherin stands were going wild. I looked over to the Gryffindor stands and Hermione was smiling and clapping. I smiled and winked at her before landing on the ground.
Hermione ran out of the stands and threw her arms around my neck. "I told you that you would win!" she said excitedly.
"Yes you did. Now, how about my surprise?" I cocked an eyebrow and she just smirked.
"How 'bout this, you go take a shower and meet me in the Astronomy Tower at three?"
"And what's gunna happen there?" I asked curiously.
"Absolutely nothing. We're just meeting there. We'll relocate to a new location when you show up," she answered slyly.
We walked back to the school holding hands. Potter walked past us at one point; his head was bowed, his broom was in his hand, and his arms were hanging limply at his sides. I had to cough to stifle a laugh, and Hermione looked at me warningly and said, "Just because I wanted you to be him doesn't mean he's not my friend, and I will kick your ass if you say anything."
"Ooh, feisty today," I said jokingly.
She shook her head and pulled me up the front stairs of the castle. In the Entrance Hall, she said, "This is where I leave you. Remember to dress in something.comfortable." She smirked at me and turned to go, but I grabbed her arm.
"Think you're getting away that easy?" I teased.
"Hmm, maybe."
"I don't think so. You know I can't leave your presence without a goodbye kiss."
"It never used to be that way," she reminded me.
"Yeah well, times change."
"They most certainly do."
She pulled the collar of my Quidditch uniform, and wrapped her lips around mine. I closed my eyes and fell into the kiss. I knew that there were on- lookers around watching us as if it were another Quidditch match.
Hermione broke away from me all too soon though. I could have stayed like that forever. "Remember where to meet me!" she called as she went down the hall practically skipping. I turned and walked quickly toward the dungeons. I was very impatient. I needed to know what this little "surprise" was.
DRACO'S POV~
"WHAT?!" she yelled in disbelief. "He can't! The letter! Pansy! How? Draco how?"
"Last night when we were in the Astronomy Tower, he was spying on us. I think he knew that something wasn't quite right and he came to check it out. He was up there the whole time, and he followed me back to the Slytherin common room." I stopped and took a deep breath, then continued, "He said that I'm not worthy to be a Malfoy, but he still has use for me and-" I didn't want to go on. I felt that I couldn't, but I knew I had to.
She must have sensed that I was battling with myself and she whispered, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No! I have to. Just give me a second." I took a few deep breaths and said softly, "He's going to-he's gunna-um-Hermione, he won't leave us alone until you're buried six feet under." I looked at her again. "He wants to use me to get to you, but I won't let him touch you. I promise. Just be sure to stay where there are a lot of people, and he won't come near you. You'll need to be escorted to your class-"
"Draco stop!" she interrupted me. "Let's go to Dumbledore. He'll tell us what we should do. We have to think rationally in this situation. I obviously can't be escorted to every single place I go, and you can't be around me 24/7 because of what people will say. Let's just go see Dumbledore."
"Before we go, I just want to let you know that we can make our relationship public now. My father knows, so why bother lying to everyone else?" She nodded her head and we headed towards the Headmaster's quarters.
When we arrived at our destination, I recited the password and we made our way up the staircase. I was about to open the door when he said, "Mr. Malfoy, Ms Granger, you may come in." We did as we were instructed and walked in. "Please sit," he suggested while pointing to two chairs. "Now, what can I do for you at this un-godly hour?"
"Professor, Hermione and I have been seeing each other in secret since the day before term started. As you probably already know, we both have family problems and we ended up at the Leaky Cauldron over break," I explained.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I do know of this. Please continue."
"Well, my father saw us talking together one morning at the Leaky Cauldron and said that if he found out that we were together he would disown me and kill her. I asked her to meet me in the Astronomy Tower last night because I needed to apologize for something I shouldn't have said, but did anyway. When we were there, I received an owl from my father that basically stated that he eventually wanted me to marry Pansy Parkinson. When we left the tower, I dropped Hermione off at the Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Slytherin dorms. My father was sitting on one of the couches when I arrived, and he said that I have dishonored the family name and that he is going to use me to get to Hermione so that he could kill her."
"Yes, yes, that is a problem. What do you propose we do?"
"I don't want to leave her alone.ever. I-"
"Draco, I am strong enough to take care of myself," Hermione defended.
"Ms Granger, I know that you are one of the most powerful witches that this school has ever seen, but I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Malfoy on this. I do not want you roaming around the building on your own; it could be potentially dangerous."
"Yes sir," she mumbled looking defeated.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you get another letter from your father, come to me immediately. I want to know what he is planning to do."
"Yes sir," I said.
"You may go now." He dismissed us so he could go back to doing what ever he was doing before we arrived.
Once we were outside, Hermione said, "Draco, why the hell did you suggest that?! I told you, I can take care of myself."
"I know you can; you are one of the strongest people I know, but my father is really sneaky about how he goes about doing his business. I don't want you to get hurt. I am just looking out for your safety. I only want to protect you."
"Okay, fine, but how am I going to get around? There is not one person who is in all of my classes."
"I'll walk with you to all your classes and then go to mine. Sure, we'll probably be late most of the time, but I'm sure our professors will understand."
She nodded. I knew she could take care of herself, but if something happened to her, I didn't know what I would do. She knew I loved her, but she was a very independent person. She didn't need to rely on me. She had survived without me protecting her for the previous sixteen years of her life, and there was no reason why she needed me to survive then. The problem was, I needed her. Without her I'd be miserable, ready to die, and I would have died if we hadn't met up with each other in Diagon Alley.
"Draco?" She managed to break me out of my trance.
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"Everything."
"Well that's not a broad subject," she answered sarcastically.
I smirked at her. "Of course not. Let's go get some breakfast since we're near the Great Hall anyway."
"Alright."
~
HERMIONE'S POV~
The rest of the week went by quickly, and it was soon Friday night. Lucius had not followed up with his previous letter to Draco. Draco and I were once again in the Astronomy Tower; it was about 8:30.
"Draco, you should really get some sleep tonight," I said as he left a trail of kisses down my neck.
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Don't tell me you forgot about your Quidditch game," I answered in mock shock.
"What if I said that I'd rather be here with you than in a dorm with a bunch of dim-witted idiots? It's not even my bedtime yet."
"I know that, but you need your rest."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He stopped kissing me and looked into my eyes.
"I would never try to get rid of you. I just really want you to beat Harry."
"What would your House say if they knew you said that?"
"Well now that everyone knows we're together, I don't think they'd be too surprised. They might be upset but-oh who cares what they say or think? I don't. That whole House can kiss my ass! They're mad at me anyway, for you know, 'sleeping with the enemy.'"
"My House ain't too thrilled with me either. Pansy cried for two days straight after she saw us together."
"How sad!" I said sarcastically. "She must be ready to jump out a window in the Astronomy Tower because she wants what she can't have."
"She might be, but I wouldn't know. She refuses to look at me. I don't mind, though, she's very annoying."
"I noticed that."
Draco went back to kissing my neck. I could feel a fire burning a pit in my stomach. I wanted him so badly, but I had to control my hormonal imbalances so that he would be at 100% for the Quidditch match. "'Mione, we should really start heading back so I'll be able to control myself," he said between kisses.
"Yeah we do. Especially if you wanna win tomorrow." I couldn't help but to run my fingers through his silky smooth hair.
"Mm, but that means I have to leave you and I'm very much enjoying this."
I held his face in my hands and whispered, "Win tomorrow, and I have a special surprise for you."
"And what kind of surprise is this my darling Gryffindor Lioness whom I love so dearly?"
"Well now my charming Slytherin Serpent, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."
"I can still act surprised." He smirked at his futile attempt to make me change my mind.
"So juvenile," I mumbled. "See, but if you lose, you won't get this surprise, and I don't want you to get your hopes up."
"Fine," he gave in. "But I will win tomorrow."
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," I warned.
"What?"
"Muggle saying. Don't lose sleep over it."
"Whatever."
~
DRACO'S POV~
I woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed. I took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed to the Great Hall to catch a quick bite to eat before the game. A large majority of the student population was already there, and I could feel the glares that were being thrown at me from the Gryffindor table. I sat down with the Slytherin Quidditch team and went over some basic, last minute strategies before we headed for the locker rooms.
In the locker rooms, I didn't really have much to say to the team. We were pretty calm because of the grueling practice I put them through all week to prepare for this game. I, myself was a bit nervous still about facing the "legendary" Harry Potter. He looked so damn confident at breakfast, and that was pissing me off.
After a few minutes of silence, I muttered, "Come on. Let's go." They followed me out onto the field. The Gryffindors were already at the center waiting patiently for us.
Potter and I shook hands because we were the captains of our teams. I was very tense and I could sense that he was too as we glared at each other. Once we mounted our brooms, Madame Hooch blew the whistle and we were off.
"Ron Weasley from Gryffindor grabs the quaffle first and head toward the Slytherin goal posts," the commentator. He had to specify which Weasley it was because Ginny, or whatever her name was, was also a beater for Gryffindor. After that, I blocked out his voice so I can concentrate on finding the snitch.
The game was very close, and every now and then I would listen to hear the score- 50-40 Gryffindor, then it was 70-60 Slytherin. It was back and forth the entire game.
It was over an hour before I decided to do anything fun or spontaneous, and I only did because I was extremely bored. Potter was at the other end of the field so I decided I'd give a go at the Wronski Feint. I did it well in practice, now it was time to see if it would work in a game situation. I pulled into a steep dive. I took a quick glance behind me and saw Potter racing to catch up with me. I began to estimate the distance I was from the ground-20 feet, 15, 10, 7, 5- I decided it was now time to pull up. Potter went to about three feet before he realized what I was doing and also pulled up.
I quickly climbed to a higher elevation so I could get a clear view of the entire field and search for the snitch. I wanted to end the game so badly. And then I saw it by the Slytherin goal posts. I put on another burst of speed. Once again, Potter was on my tail. The snitch went down to about three feet above the ground. I pulled out of my dive along with Potter and we continued to chase it. Suddenly, it headed back up and so did we. Potter pulled up beside me and I put on an extra burst of speed in attempts to beat him out, and I succeeded; he fell behind. The whole time, I was gaining on the snitch. As I reached out to grab it, but a bludger was sent at my head. I ducked out of the way just as the snitch headed downward again. I dove after it, and Potter was right behind me. I couldn't let him catch it. I reached my arm out to its full extent, and closed my fingers tightly around the little gold ball.
"And Slytherin wins 150-120," called the announcer. He sounded very gloomy, but I didn't care. I had done the inevitable; I had beat Harry Potter.
The Slytherin stands were going wild. I looked over to the Gryffindor stands and Hermione was smiling and clapping. I smiled and winked at her before landing on the ground.
Hermione ran out of the stands and threw her arms around my neck. "I told you that you would win!" she said excitedly.
"Yes you did. Now, how about my surprise?" I cocked an eyebrow and she just smirked.
"How 'bout this, you go take a shower and meet me in the Astronomy Tower at three?"
"And what's gunna happen there?" I asked curiously.
"Absolutely nothing. We're just meeting there. We'll relocate to a new location when you show up," she answered slyly.
We walked back to the school holding hands. Potter walked past us at one point; his head was bowed, his broom was in his hand, and his arms were hanging limply at his sides. I had to cough to stifle a laugh, and Hermione looked at me warningly and said, "Just because I wanted you to be him doesn't mean he's not my friend, and I will kick your ass if you say anything."
"Ooh, feisty today," I said jokingly.
She shook her head and pulled me up the front stairs of the castle. In the Entrance Hall, she said, "This is where I leave you. Remember to dress in something.comfortable." She smirked at me and turned to go, but I grabbed her arm.
"Think you're getting away that easy?" I teased.
"Hmm, maybe."
"I don't think so. You know I can't leave your presence without a goodbye kiss."
"It never used to be that way," she reminded me.
"Yeah well, times change."
"They most certainly do."
She pulled the collar of my Quidditch uniform, and wrapped her lips around mine. I closed my eyes and fell into the kiss. I knew that there were on- lookers around watching us as if it were another Quidditch match.
Hermione broke away from me all too soon though. I could have stayed like that forever. "Remember where to meet me!" she called as she went down the hall practically skipping. I turned and walked quickly toward the dungeons. I was very impatient. I needed to know what this little "surprise" was.